New Year is probably the most celebrated public holiday, which is usually observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.
Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean, will be the first to usher in the New Year. Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco, all in the United States, will be among the last major cities to welcome the New Year.
In Kuala Lumpur, Dataran Merdeka, KLCC and Bukit Bintang will be the vantage points to watch the fireworks this weekend. Hotels in and around these areas, as well as cafes and restaurants, will cater to full capacity.
I have ushered in the New Year outside the country and I can tell you that the celebrations are not that much different than those in Malaysia. There will be those who would start partying before the stroke of midnight and continue until the wee hours, those who would just head home after the fireworks display, go to bed and wake up late on New Year morning and those who would just stay home.
On the eve of 2015, I was in London with my nephew and niece. We had specifically timed our visit to coincide with the New Year celebrations. My niece and I were among the thousands who braved the cold winter night to watch the fireworks by the River Thames. My nephew, however, preferred to sleep instead.
I had bought tickets for the London New Year’s Eve fireworks three months ahead of our trip. The tickets allowed us entry to the viewing area from Westminster Bridge on the north embankment of the Thames between Westminster and Waterloo bridges and on the South Bank behind the London Eye. But, on the night itself, we decided to park ourselves at Lambeth Bridge, which was nearer our hotel. Furthermore, we could see the full extent of the fireworks from this bridge. Forty-five minutes later, we were back at the hotel and in bed. On New Year’s Day, while the rest of London was asleep, we were making our way to the airport for our flight home.
Last year, we decided to stay in the city for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. We were lucky to be able to book a room at a hotel, which was five minutes’ walk to the Twin Towers. All the food outlets at KLCC were full that night, but we managed to have dinner at one of the Japanese restaurants there. Two hours before midnight, we left the restaurant to join the crowd at the open air concert near the KLCC fountain.
Barriers were put up around the Twin Towers. The security personnel checked the bags of people entering the KLCC grounds, but there were some who slipped through unchecked. It was a little chaotic as people were pushing each other to get into the area. Little scuffles broke out. We decided to leave mid-concert as the crowd was getting bigger and a bit boisterous closer to the countdown. We returned to the hotel and had a good view of the pyrotechnics from the infinity swimming pool area on the fourth floor of the hotel.
I was worried for the safety of my young charges if something untoward was to occur as we were in an uncontrolled crowd at the KLCC. We had seen how rowdy the crowd was earlier in the night. There were also children, as young as several months old, in their strollers there, too. Seriously, what were their parents thinking, bringing them out in such a huge crowd and in the middle of the night?
Kuala Lumpur City Hall could take a leaf out of London City Hall’s move, which introduced ticketing beginning in 2014. It had initially created a bit of controversy as the yearly event had traditionally been free to the public. London City Hall’s contention was that the event was attracting bigger and bigger crowds every year, and that ticketing was the best way to manage overcrowding and to keep the event safe.
It charged £10 (RM54) per ticket (inclusive of postage, admin fees and VAT) and one person can buy only four tickets. It does not make a profit from ticketing; every penny goes towards covering the cost of ticketing itself, the extra security, road closures, barriers and more to keep the event safe.
Some 100,000 people bought tickets to the display along the River Thames compared with the estimated 500,000 people who tried to attend the previous year, many of whom were turned away by police for security and safety reasons.
Yes, there would be an uproar over the move (or any move for that matter) to impose tickets for the public to enter the vantage points to view the fireworks, but I believe many would also appreciate and welcome the move as it would ensure safety of the people, especially children. We cannot discount the possibility of untoward incidents, which are happening elsewhere, from taking place here.
It is better to be safe than sorry. Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Stay safe wherever you may be.
Fauziah Ismail is a United Nations journalism fellow and a Wolfson College Cambridge press fellow. She has 30 years of experience as a journalist, half with the ‘Business Times’